The Not So Straight Road
by 10polevault
Summary: Spencer and Ashley meet when Spencer has a girlfriend, Pacey. Spencer quickly falls for Ashley after their first meeting. Definitely a lot of relationship drama and struggles to be overcome in this romance/drama fan fiction. Partially based on a true story.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A Hot Brunette & A Bothered Spencer

**This is my first shot at writing fan fiction so let me know what you think. It's partially based on true events. Hope you guys enjoy it!**

*beep beep*

I roll over to check the text awakening me from my deep sleep.

It's undoubtedly from my controlling girlfriend, Pacey.

Come over in an hour. Don't be late!

_Why does she insist on me coming over so early? It's only eight in the morning in the summer!_

Not wanting to make her mad, I get out of bed and decide on a cut off tee shirt and basketball shorts with my old black Vans. Walking into the dining room my parents, Paula and Arthur, reside in their chairs at the dining table. I ready myself for the argument that is sure to ensue.

"Good morning," I say looking at the two.

"How'd you sleep, sweetheart?" my dad replies, getting a sideways glance from my mother.

"Fine, I was wondering if I can drive to Pacey's house to hang out," My mother begins to get a flustered look.

"Spencer, you know that we don't want you over there every day. You are too caught up in this girl that is going nowhere. She is three years older than you and has done nothing with her life. Why not find some "friends" your own age?" Paula replies. It's apparent me coming out still has not settled well with her.

"Dad?" I look to my father with a questioning look, hoping he will get me out of this situation.

He moves from his chair to guide me into the family room. His face shows the stress lines that have formed from many years of worry and hard work as a counselor.

"I'll let you go to Pacey's house this time, but you need to start discussing things with your mother and myself. Letting you go before talking to your mother has not helped our relationships in this family. Have fun sweetheart, but don't forget to call once you get to Pacey's," he says with a stern face.

"Thank you, Dad. I love you," I give him a look that shows I'm being sincere.

I walk up to the door of Pacey's house and knock which makes the dogs begin barking. The dogs aren't Pacey's, but her roommates' dogs that are little terrors. Crimson answers the door and gives me a look as to say "why are you here" before yelling for Pacey. I step inside to get stared down by Crimson whose real name is Stacey. Why she asks to be called Crimson is still beyond me.

In comes Pacey, who doesn't say anything, but only moves her finger to motion for me to follow her.

Going back in time, I met Pacey through some friends of mine. I had a bad break up with the girl I claimed was my first love and Pacey started talking to me on Facebook a day later. Pacey and Shanice, my ex-girlfriend, were friends, but Pacey had an eye for me. Between my flirtatious flings with girls that never went anywhere and my emotional alone times with Shanice while she played games with my head, I didn't have much time for Pacey. I repeatedly denied Pacey due to the fact I wasn't attracted to her, but that didn't stop her constant nagging. After Shanice hooked up with my best friend and another girl while I was in the same house six months later, I decided it was time for me to give up on Shanice and give Pacey a shot. Pacey moved really fast with jumping at the chance, as well as jumping in bed. Seven months later I'm stuck in a relationship that doesn't seem to be going in any particular direction, but down.

Back to now, I follow Pacey to her room and shut the door behind me. Pacey pushes me up against the door and decides it's time to take over my mouth in sloppy kissing that is her definition of making out. What happens after several minutes was her typical sexual greeting. Once she completes her release its time to talk.

"What are on the books for today, Spencer?" Pacey inquires.

"Don't you have a softball game later today?" I reply with a question.

"Yeah, if you can come that is."

"I'll be there, but I need to call my parents before Paula freaks out."

"God… your parents are so difficult," she whines.

"Hi mom… Yes, I know…. Okay, I understand… Yeah, I'll be home by ten… See you then. Bye."

"Spencer!" she shrieks.

"Yes, Pacey?" I reply already annoyed with my current girlfriend.

"The game is at eight," she says with a pissed look.

"And?"

"We always do stuff after the game."

"Not tonight, I guess."

She shakes her head while saying, "You and your curfews."

After a long day, we are finally at the well-kept ball park with its turf fields and modern buildings housing the snack bar and several other attractions for ball park-goers.

"We are on Field One against the Beasty Ballers. What a name, huh?" Pacey says looking at her schedule.

I look across the way, lost in mindless thought, to see my best friend, Madison talking to her girlfriend, Carmen. As we approach the two, Madison looks at me and says, "Hey, you two ready to play?"

I give her a look like "are you kidding me?" while pointing at my casted left arm.

Her expression turns into a smirk not being able to keep a serious tone while giving me a hard time because I got injured in cheer practice. Madison thinks cheerleading is not a sport and hasn't been very supportive since the start.

Once we do away with the insistent teasing, we make our way into seats to watch Pacey play softball. I pull out my phone to busy myself seeing as the game is starting to get boring.

Halfway through the second inning, I feel a presence next to me and look up to see a beautiful brunette move into the row of seats above me. I try to ignore her, but my infatuation with her beauty is hard to ignore and she gives me a small smile. I return the smile and turn back around to hide the blush forming on my cheeks. I feel a slight tap on my shoulder and turn around quickly almost smacking my cast into the gorgeous girl's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you. I just was going to ask you what happened to your arm."

I must've been staring at her awkwardly because after a second I hear her say, "Is there something on my face?"

"Yeah, Spencer, why are you staring at her so creepily?" Madison replies with an evil grin forming on her face. After smacking Madison in the arm, I turn back to the girl.

"No, I just was….um….thinking about something? Anyway, I was cheerleading and fell from the top of the pyramid." I laugh nervously after replying. "Oh and I'm Spencer by the way."

"It's nice to meet you, Spencer. I'm Ashley; just moved here from New York and looking for something entertaining to do in L.A. My sister conned me into going to this ball park to, in her words, 'pick up hot guys.'" I take the hand she extends to me as a greeting. Making a fool of myself again, I don't stop shaking her hand until she slowly pulls her hand away with the other hand.

Next, thing I know I feel like I'm falling, then nothing…


	2. Chapter 2

**Wrote this really late at night, but was motivated. Let me know what you think! I want to know which direction to take this and how fast to move my story. Thanks for reading!**

I slowly open my eyes to a bright light being casted over me. As I come to, I realize the light is the field lights which happen to be casted into my eyes. Next, I regain my hearing and someone is definitely calling my name, but I can't place the voice.

"Spencer? Are you okay? Hello?"

Underneath me I feel cold cement, but something warm on my back and head. I soon notice that the warm areas happen to be someone's hands. I am now freaking out because I don't know who is touching me and all I have seen so far are bright lights. I slowly turn my head in the direction of the unknown voice.

"Don't move, please. Just stay still. Hey guys! She's awake!"

Once I get my head all the way around I notice a familiar brunette looming over me. I am once again at a loss for words due to the shocking beauty this girl possesses. She is saying something else, but then another voice comes into range.

"She isn't talking. I don't know what's wrong!" I can recall that the girl's name that the voice belongs to is Ashley. The other voice is too familiar for comfort…

"Who do you think you are? Get away from my girlfriend and take your hands off of her! She can't even talk now! Look what you've done!" Pacey is definitely overreacting towards the fact that Ashley's hands are on me. Wait… Why are her hands on me? I have been so caught up in the fact that she was almost holding me that I looked past the fact that I have no idea as to why I'm on the ground.

"You must have used her as a shield when that ball came flying over the fence, didn't you?" I remember vaguely a pain crushing into the side of my face before passing out. I guess I was hit by a foul ball. I need to say something to clear this up before Pacey runs off this pretty girl.

"Stop it! I'm fine. Would you just help me up?"

"Sure," Pacey and Ashley say in unison. Now a stare down is occurring between the two girls.

"You know what forget it. I can get myself up off this ground," I say just now noticing that Ashley's hands have left my body. "Pacey go back to your game and I'll go get ice for my head."

The two girls look as if they are going to argue about this when Madison cuts in to say "I'll get the ice. You two cool off and finish the game, Pacey. Your girlfriend is in good hands with Carmen and me."

Pacey slowly makes her way onto the field, not missing her last chance to give Ashley a dirty look before disappearing into the dugout.

"Girlfriend, huh? Doesn't seem like she likes to share you with people much," Ashley says while chuckling to herself.

Curiosity gets the best of me and I feel the need to know how the order of events went down to make it so I ended up in Ashley's arms on the ground, not that I minded her holding me at all or anything.

"So… How did I end up in your arms of all places? I'm still slightly disoriented."

"Let me see. This blonde girl named Spencer was standing in front of me one minute and the next she was on the ground. Then, this girl Pacey freaked out on a girl named Ashley. The end." She has me laughing by the end of the description of the order of events.

"No, honestly, what happened? Did I get hit by a ball or something?"

"You were talking to me and then a ball got fouled off over the back stop and hit you in the side of the face. You stood there for a second kind of woozy and I knew you were gonna pass out and fall down, so I jumped over the seats just in time before you fell back into the cement aisle. My hand landed on your back and the back of your head while everyone stood there stunned. Pacey didn't know you fell until I was calling out your name and then she freaked out because my hands were on you, even though if I wouldn't have caught you it would have been a trip to the hospital for you with some shiny, silver staples in your head." She finishes shaking her head at the thought of Pacey being mad over the whole ordeal.

"I'm sorry about Pacey. She can be kind of protective sometimes. Thank you for your quick thinking, though," I finish with a smile. She just flashes a small smile in return.

Now, the game is over and we had sat in silence for most of the rest of the game besides a few snide remarks and jokes from Madison after returning with the ice. I didn't want to say anything to look any dumber in front of Ashley. Madison made sure to point out the fact that I passed out and that Ashley had caught me several times. I really wanted to hit her to get the idea that I didn't like her bringing up the subject. Oh well, we are about to leave now, but Pacey has ran to the restroom and Madison and Carmen left. This leaves me alone with Ashley who is waiting for her sister, Kyla.

"What are you guys doing tonight?" I ask hesitantly.

"I don't really know for sure. Kyla probably found some guy that has a party in the city for us to attend. More like Kyla trying to hook me up with some guy so I'm entertained for the night and she doesn't feel bad for leaving me to have fun with her boy toy of choice." The reply I get makes me think that this girl is most likely straight which shouldn't be surprising seeing as most girls this beautiful are straight.

"Oh that's unfortunate, I'm sorry. I have to go home and deal with my parents since they love to give me curfews and don't like my girlfriend. It'll be even worse once school starts." I look at her and notice her eyes are gorgeous and that she is actually listening, or appears to be listening, to what I'm saying. It's definitely a nice change from talking to Pacey. Talking to her resembles talking to a wall seeing as it doesn't sink in whatsoever. Ashley is a sort of breath of fresh air in more ways than one.

"Ready to go?" Pacey shakes me out of my trance of thinking about Ashley who is currently standing in front of me looking uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I guess so. You gonna be here next week?" I ask Ashley, hoping the answer is yes.

"I'm actually not too sure yet, but it's quite a drive from my house seeing as I live on the other side of L.A. I just happened to be close by tonight seeing as we are out discovering what makes up the city. I'll mention it to Ky though. It was nice meeting you both and I hope your head and arm feel better. See ya later!" I look down at the ice in one hand and the cast on my arm thinking about what she just said. My mood turned from good to disappointed. I can't see this amazing girl once and then watch her walk out of my life, literally. I would stop her and ask her for her number, but then remember Pacey standing next to me.

"Alright talk to you later Ash," is all I can muster to come out of my mouth. "You ready to head home, Pacey?"

"Yeah, now that the girl who can't keep her hands off my girl is gone." I can't help but be mad at her for being so rude towards Ashley whom she barely knows.

The drive home is filled with loud screamo music which Pacey thinks is very fitting for every moment whether it be sad, happy, crazy, irritating, joyous, or pretty much any moment of life. Tonight I am thankful for the volume of the music so I can stare out the window without having to engage in a conversation. Her arm being across my shoulders is enough of a reminder that I am still hers right now.

We return to her house and I start towards my car until I am reeled back by her hand on my wrist. I look into her eyes seeing that they have a hint of anger coming out of them.

"And where do you think you are going?" Pacey spits her words at me. I told her I have a curfew and I will barely make it if I leave right now. I don't need to have an argument because that will undoubtedly make me late.

"You know I have to go home. My curfew is ten o'clock and right now its 9:40. With the traffic in the city I'll definitely be late if I stay here any longer." I say this hoping it's enough to get me off the hook for tonight. "I love you, Pacey. I'll come by tomorrow alright? School is starting in less than a week so maybe we can go shopping together to get our girlfriend time in." With this said I give her a kiss and jump in my truck to avoid a conversation and argument I don't want.

I leave her on the sidewalk staring at me as I drive off. My phone vibrates immediately and I know Pacey is going to give me a hard time getting away with leaving.

I love you, but we need to have a talk in person when you decide you have more time for me. I just want us to solidify our relationship a little more. Text me once you get home.

She definitely wants to have an argument. That whole text was code for "we are going to have an argument soon."

I arrive home several minutes late due to traffic and my time leaving Pacey's. My parents are up which I notice from the lights shining through the living room window. Regardless of being late and the punishment which might be placed on me, I am thinking back to Ashley and the hope that I will get to see her again.

Opening the front door, my mom jumps at the fact I am late and starts her rant as soon as I walk through the door.

"You are late and I waited up for you. I have an early morning shift at the hospital. Do you really think I want to spend my time waiting up for you?" My mother is an ER surgeon at a big hospital in L.A. She definitely wants to fight with me tonight. I am beginning to think that this is her new hobby. I hate to burst her bubble, but I'm not in the mood for it.

"I'm sorry, mom. I'll make sure not to go to Pacey's house tomorrow and I will take out the garbage for the next week as punishment. I love you." I have thoroughly surprised her, as well as myself, with my smoothness of getting out of an argument. This pleases her after she gets over the shock of my reply.

"Okay, sweetie. Just don't let it happen again, okay? I have to work early many times. I love you too, though and goodnight."

I am now heading up to my room and text Madison along the way.

I am sick and tired of Pacey. We need to figure something out and pronto. She is driving me crazy!

I dress down into my pajamas and brush my teeth before I get a reply:

OMG! You finally came to your senses and agree with me that this girl is crazy, but good luck getting her to let you break up with her!

Now that I am ready for bed, I will write a simple reply to her:

We have all of tomorrow because I'm "banned" from her house for the day. Night!

Night Spence!

I have to make one more text to make everything alright:

Made it home, but gotta give my mom my phone cuz I was late. Night! Love you!

The text will get me off the hook with Pacey for a little while.

As I drift into sleep, my thoughts and dreams are not crowded by Pacey or how I plan to get out of the tangled mess we call a relationship, but thoughts of a gorgeous brunette holding me in her arms and never letting go…


	3. Chapter 3

**Trying to get to the point where the story will pick up. Sorry for the short chapter and the slow start so far. This chapter was necessary to get to the rest of the story. I promise that Spashley will come into play eventually. Let me know what you think. Your input can change the story, so let me know.**

It's been two weeks since I met Ashley. In the meantime, I've been busy dealing with this problem of a girlfriend I have. I'll have to go back in time to cover what happened…

_*phone rings*_

"_Spencer, can you get that?"_

"_Yeah, mom!" I yell through the house. "Hello?"_

"_Are you lying to me?!" I immediately know the voice yelling through the phone, but ask who it is for effect. _

"_Uh, who is this?"_

"_You know who this is, Spencer. You told me you couldn't talk because you were grounded, but your mom is having you answer the phone. You are a dirty little liar!"_

"_Pacey I'm done with you and your craziness. Our relationship has been nothing but a nightmare lately. I can't take it anymore!" I say these sentences with emphasis hoping she gets the point._

"_Oh, so you wouldn't care if I wasn't around anymore?"_

"_Pacey, what are you talking about?" Her tone of voice definitely scares me. _

"_You're the only real thing I have going for me. I might as well die if I don't have you around. Bye, Spencer."_

"_No, wait! Pacey, I don't want you to-" I get cut off by the click of the phone on the other end, then nothing. _

_I may not want to be with this girl, but I don't want her to kill herself! She still matters in my life. She is a good friend, but not a good girlfriend, if that makes sense. _

_I know exactly where she will be by the river. I drive to the park and run down the trails hoping I'm not too late. I look along the bank of the river and see her body lying on the rocks… I run to her and hope that she is okay. I take her pulse and it is weak, so I pull out my cell phone to call 911. The only problem is I have no cell signal and the closest place to cell signal is running back through the trails to the park. _

"_I'll be back. Stay strong, Pacey." _

_Once I get back, I am out of breath and gasping for air while I call 911. I have to wait by the trails to show them the way out to the river. They arrive and together we sprint down the trails to Pacey's unmoving body. The paramedics put her on a back board and rush her to the ambulance. _

_I follow to the hospital and, an hour later, her parents arrive asking a million questions._

"_Is she okay? What happened? Where was she? Why was she upset?" I can't tell them the answers to any of their questions either because I don't know or can't bring myself to tell them it's my fault. A while later the doctor comes out to say that she is okay, but tired because they pumped her stomach of all the drugs she took. _

Ever since that day, I haven't known what to do because I don't want her to pull another stunt. I do love her as a friend, but not as more than that. Madison thinks that I should just do it and not care, but I'm not a heartless person.

I have finally developed a plan that may seem messed up, but it's necessary for us to be able to break up and keep her safe. I called her roommates and asked if they were home and if Pacey was there, as well. Once I was sure all three were there, I asked Crimson, the roommate, to look out for Pacey seeing as she was probably going to be upset, but I hung up before any questions could be asked.

During Madison's and my free period, we sat on a bench talking about how to break it off, and how I hadn't talked to Pacey all day. Madison took my phone and wrote a text saying a bunch of things about needing to break up and how I need to do my own thing, as well as a few words about her holding me back. When I got the phone back, I made the text sound a little bit nicer and sent it. I got a reply almost immediately.

Why? was the only response I got from that message. This left me confused seeing as I thought everything was pretty clear in the text I sent. Looking back over my message, I decided maybe I should clarify some of my reasoning.

Pacey, we have been through a lot of things together, but I think it's time for us to go our separate ways and grow, but individually. I am going to go off to college next year, and I am not sure about where yet and I can't try to stay around for you. I can't do this anymore and I am sorry.

I don't get a reply right away like I expected, but eventually it comes through:

You're breaking up with me over text?

I had no other words to say, but the truth:

Yeah.

That's fucking bullshit! I have done so much for you and this is how you want to leave it?! You don't even care about me or my feelings do you?! You are unbelievable you little bitch! Who do you think you are?! Seeing this text, I know I should just leave it how it is and not try to reason with her.

"Let it be, Spence. She will get over it eventually and it's better for you. Plus, I have a surprise for you, but it is going to have to wait a couple days. You will be beyond happy that you broke up with Pacey once you get the surprise, I promise." Madison says reassuringly. "Let Pacey go and be the happy Spencer I used to know. I saw a little bit of the old you when you met Ashley. Now, go to your last period and ignore Pacey's texts and calls. It'll be worth it. Love ya girl!"

I know that I should feel bad about dumping Pacey over text and ignoring her phone calls, but Madison said the word Ashley and surprise in a very short matter of time and my attention changed quickly to this instead of Pacey. I can only imagine what she has up her sleeve…


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys! Here's my next chapter. I would really appreciate some more reviews just to know what everyone likes and doesn't like. Thank you to the two reviews I have received so far from cocograeters09 and Charlee. Anyway, let me know what you think.**

Tuesday is finally here again which means going to the ball park. This could be good and bad seeing as Madison said she has a surprise for me, but Pacey will undoubtedly be there. If Madison doesn't push it, I might not go to the ball park and just stay home. Dreaming about Ashley is okay, right? Even if I never get to see her again…

Hey, lazy ass. I know your lying in bed dreaming about Ashley (so pathetic ;)). So get your ass up and be ready in twenty minutes because I'll be on my way in ten. Madison definitely doesn't know how to send me a text without making fun of me or calling me a name or both. Good thing I love that girl. Guess my plan of staying home just went out the window.

Nineteen minutes later she is knocking on my door knowing that I started getting ready once I saw her car pull up.

"Come on, Spencer. It's your first week as a free woman and you are sitting in your room doing nothing. You just started getting ready, didn't you? I don't want to have to wait another half hour for you."

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Damn!" I say opening the door. I am dressed to impress in case I run into Pacey….or Ashley.

"Wow! Ya lil hoochie! Cover up!" Sounds like a normal reply from Madison.

"I have a hoodie. Calm your shit."

"Okay, but I'm not the one in almost nothing."

"Admit it! I look damn good." I say with a smirk

"You're my best friend so that's just weird. Not gonna happen. Let's go already!"

We jump in her monstrous truck and headed to the fields. One of the main reasons I don't put up too much of a fight when we are going somewhere together is because of her amazing truck she drives. It's big, loud, and has an amazing sound system. We roll up bumpin' Next To You by Mike Jones. It's one of our songs that we always have to listen to together.

I jump out of the passenger door and head towards the entrance where I see Carmen standing by someone in a hoodie. I figure it's one of her new "best friends" that she meets each week. I get closer and notice that the girl in the hoodie is a brunette. I start to get excited because I think it might be Ashley and that would explain Madison's excitement. I have to hold in my scream that I want to let out from my new found happiness.

My happiness soon drains away as I notice the brunette is not Ashley, but Carmen's cousin, Brooke. Brooke gives me a smile while Carmen explains that Brooke has recently moved from New York. It seems like everyone moves from New York these days. Now, I am thoroughly convinced that this is Madison's surprise since this girl is gay and she is trying to hook me up with new people after my breakup. This girl is pretty, but definitely no comparison to Ashley. Come to think of it, I don't even know if Ashley is interested in girls or guys.

Speaking of Ashley, here comes her sister, Kyla. Seeing as I have had quite a bit of disappointment in the past few minutes, I slip into the park trying not to get caught by my friends. I really don't want to admit to Madison or anyone else that I was expecting to see Ashley tonight. I slide into the snack bar area and find a table to sit at. I hear someone say can I borrow this chair and I respond without looking up.

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"Wow, Spencer, thanks for being so nice." Who knows my name in here? Everyone is outside I thought. I look up and am completely thrown into shock.

"…..Uh…..Ashley?" My jaw slacks open at the sight of her before I realize how ridiculous I must look and close it immediately.

"No, Bob. Yes, Ashley. I just asked for the chair to get your attention, but obviously you must be not allowed to talk to strangers if you don't even look up when I say something." She laughs genuinely at this.

Now, my smile is coming out because a beautiful brunette is in close proximity to me. She is close enough to touch which feels like a dream. Please don't let me pass out again. I want to spend all the time I possibly can with this gorgeous girl. She takes a seat at my table and starts a conversation with me.

"So, isn't your ex here tonight?"

"Yeah, but I was forced to come here by Madison."

"You know that the only reason Madison made you come is because she knew I would be here, right? She thinks that we are going to best friends or something." My head snaps up in shock that this was her real surprise. I'm pretty sure Ashley has no clue that I want her as more than a friend.

"How'd you know that I'd be here? Wait how'd you talk to Madison?" I am so lost at this point.

"Have you met Carmen's cousin yet?" What does this have to do with anything? Is she trying to change the subject on me?

"Yeah?"

"She's from New York and I am from New York. We knew each other back then and she just moved out here, too. I was hanging out with her and we ran into Madison and Carmen. Madison hinted that you had "mentioned" me and told me to come tonight." The air quotes make me think that maybe she does know I want her.

"Hey, Spence! Can I talk to you for a second?" My attention is pulled towards Madison's voice.

"Sure. I'll be back in a minute, okay?"

"Yeah, take your time, Spence. I'm gonna head down and watch the softball game on Field #2." Ashley replies with a small smile.

"Okay, what is it, Madison?" I say with a hint of irritation in my voice. She points out the window of the snack bar towards a dirty blonde girl sitting with a few of her friends.

"You see that girl?" I nod my head and she continues. "That's Kylie and she is gay, as well as very attractive." I give her an accusing glare.

"Madi, you are with Carmen. Don't mess with that because you know it will come back to bite you."

"It's not like I'm going to go jump into bed with her, Spence. I just wanna get her number. Want to see who can get it first?" She looks at me with that devilish smirk she gets when doing something crazy.

"Well, alright, but I would rather be getting Ashley's number."

"You don't really think she is gay, do you?" I avert my eyes to try and hide the truth. "You do! Oh my god, Spencer!"

"Could you keep it down, Madison? I don't really want the whole ball park to know." I feel someone walk up beside me.

"To know what?" Carmen is next to us and I am done having this conversation.

"Well, Spencer was just sayin-"

"How I'm ready to go watch the game. I want to see who is going to win the game…. Well, and avoid Pacey." I say, thinking for the first time since arriving of my ex-girlfriend.

I find a seat a row and a few seats away from Kylie so as to set it up for Madison. She better be happy that I am willing to be her wingman tonight because I have my own agenda, too. Kylie starts talking to Madison while Carmen is away and I play along as the wingman. I finally begin searching for where Ashley went and see her, Kyla, and a few guys over on the other side of the field. I can't help but be jealous of the guys getting to talk to Ashley at the moment.

"I'll be back, alright Madi?"

"Where are you going? You aren't going to try and talk to Ashley are you?" She can read me like an open book. On the other hand, I don't even know how I would talk to her.

"No, just going to get a soda." She looks at me, studying me for a moment, but gives up and goes back to flirting with Kylie.

After I buy a soda, I sit by the window contemplating whether to go talk to Ashley or not. As soon as I am about to get up to talk to her, Madison walks in following Kylie and a few of her friends. They all sit in a booth and start talking while I see this as a good opportunity to play along with the game of who can get Kylie's number first.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I say hoping they don't stare at me awkwardly. An awkward moment is definitely occurring, though.

"Guys, this is my best friend, Spencer. Sit down, make yourself comfortable." Madison finally speaks up after letting me look like a complete fool.

After a few minutes of listening to the group talk, Ashley shows up and moves into the booth while making a smooth introduction of her to the others. Kylie definitely takes an interest in Ashley which makes me slightly aggravated. Now, Ashley shows an interest in Kylie, which I figure this could be good and bad. Good because this means she could like girls, but bad because that interest isn't in me.

"Hey I'll be right back, alright?" Kylie says after taking a sip of her drink. After she is gone for a minute, Madison realizes her phone got left behind on the table.

"You wanna have some fun with this?" Madison asks showing her famous smirk once again.

We pull up some nude girls on the internet trying to make it her background, but couldn't get the picture to stay as her background. I come up with the idea of putting someone as the background on her phone and she jumps on the idea. Madison gets on Facebook and starts scrolling through her friends list. One of the people she comes across is Ashley and I grab the phone from her, select her profile, and choose a picture to set as the background.

"You have to be kidding me, right?" She says in a whisper. "You are obsessed, Spence."

To my luck, the picture wouldn't save on Kylie's phone and we have to save it to my phone, send it to Kylie's, then set it as the background. This gives me a reason to have a picture of Ashley and I get Kylie's phone number first. We set the phone back in its place seconds before Kylie returns.

"Why did you guys have my phone?" Kylie definitely saw us with it. She plays with her phone for several minutes before noticing the obvious background.

I look up towards Ashley to see that the phone dilemma has definitely caught her attention which was exactly what I wanted. Right about that time, Carmen comes up to the table with a pissed off look on her face and asks Madison to follow her. She reluctantly gets up and follows her girlfriend out of the building.

With my attention turned back towards the table, I see that Kylie is flirting with Ashley, but I can't tell if Ashley is flirting back. Regardless of Ashley's part in the conversation, I am very angry because Kylie is flirting with the girl I am trying to get at. The angels must have been watching over me at that point, though because Kylie had to leave to play her next game of softball, leaving me and Ashley alone.

"So, how long you think their fight will be?" Ashley asks me.

"Who knows with those two. It's always another fiasco when they're together." About that time the two come in and say they are heading out to the parking lot to leave soon and Ashley and I decide to follow.

We make small talk on the way to the parking lot and Madison decides to walk Carmen to her car while throwing the keys my way. Ashley and I head towards Madison's truck to let the other two have their alone time. I decide this would be a good time to find out what her sexual preference is.

"Those guys earlier that you were talking to, they were big tools, huh?" I start off pretty bluntly hoping that's not too harsh.

"Well, I don't know. They seemed pretty genuine and nice to me." My heart definitely sank after hearing those words.

"That's good, just from my perspective they didn't look that good." We have a moment of awkward silence, so I decide to try a new approach. "I noticed Kylie was really hitting it off with you. That girl loves a good flirt." I watch her expression slightly change, but not enough to say much about her thoughts.

"Yeah? Well, I hate to break it to her, but she won't find what she is looking for in me. Not really my forte."

"What's not your forte?" I ask hoping she doesn't say girls.

"Girls." Definitely a hard hit to my confidence. We have finally arrived at the truck and thank God because I can fumble with the keys while thinking of the next thing to say. I decide I'll take a leap of faith once again in a short amount of time.

"So, after last time at the ball fields I wasn't sure if I was going to ever see you again." I laugh lightly. "What a sad day, huh?" I try to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing. L.A. is a pretty big city with a lot of people."

"Yeah, so I was wondering if you wanna put your number in my phone so we can hang out again. Hopefully next time Madison and Carmen won't be fighting, but who knows with those two." My heart is beating a million miles an hour hoping that she will give me her number.

"I just got a new number and I can't remember what it is." Think fast, Spencer. What do you say next?

"…Oh…. Uh…" Smooth one.

"Just put your number in my phone and I'll text you instead. How's that?" Thank God one of us has a brain.

"Yeah, I'll do that." I say as I take her phone. "So, what should my name be in your phone?" This was my lame attempt at flirting.

"Set it as whatever you want it to be." This definitely got the wheels going in my head.

"How about… Fuckbuddy?" That wasn't the smoothest either.

"Uh, wow. How about something else."

"Why not Fuckbuddy?" That was another stupid question.

"Why should it be Fuckbuddy?" Now a cat has my tongue and I can't make words come out of my mouth. "I'll just put it in as Spencer for now." She says while taking her phone back. I really get tongue-tied around this girl and it's definitely not helping my confidence.

"Hey guys. Ready to go, Spencer?" Madison says, sneaking up on us.

"Yeah, I gotta go, too."

"Yeah, Mad. Am I gonna see you or talk to you soon, Ashley?" I am highly anticipating her reply.

"Well…"


	5. Chapter 5

"Well…."

"Ash, come on!" I look over quickly and see Kyla in the driver's seat of a sleek, black Porsche.

"Hey, so are you-"I try to ask Ashley a question, but get cut off.

"Who said you could drive my car? You don't even have your license! Get out…Now." Ashley has become quickly engrossed in the driving situation and forgotten about telling me whether I will see or talk to her soon. Turning back to us, she says her goodbyes, "See you later, Madison. Later, Spence."

All I can do is watch her drive away. I feel like I messed up by trying to push things so far when she told me she isn't into girls. I think she is very attractive, but I might only get her as a friend which I probably screwed up, as well.

"Let's go, Madison." I wear a long face and have no intention of trying to make conversation on the way home, but Madison has a different idea.

"Taking it that things didn't go your way? I told you Ashley isn't gay. Stop pushing it because, in the end, you will only end up hurt while she goes away without a care in the world. If she isn't into you, bothering her isn't going to cut it either." Madison is being very blunt with me to try and save me from heartache, but some damage is already done.

"Yeah, its whatever. Can we just go home already?"

"Sure, we can talk more about it later when you are up for it."

The rest of the drive is filled with silence and my thoughts. I can't believe that I was so stupid when all of the gestures I thought were flirting were only acts of kindness. I need better gaydar and pronto.

It's now Friday and Madison and I are hitting up the mall to buy more hats to add to our collection of snapbacks. Of course, we can't make it through a day of shopping without seeing someone we know. Out of all the people in L.A., we run into Kylie who I'm not super excited to see after her flirting stunt with Ashley.

"Oh my god! Is that Madison? What's up?" She runs up to Madison and gives her a hug while Madi gives me a thumbs up behind her back.

"Why are you at the mall, Kylie?" Madison asks obviously wanting to spark up a conversation to keep the girl around.

"Well, I was shopping with my brother for my mom's birthday, but he had to leave for work so I thought I would check out Victoria Secret's new clothes they got in their Pink style." Obviously the ditsy blonde would look at Pink clothes. She fits the stereotype of dumb and blonde. She gives blondes like me a bad name.

"Hey, Spencer! Look who still has Ashley as their background." My face immediately turns red in anger.

"Give it back, Madi!" Oh, so Madison can flirt with her and Kylie can use MY nickname for her all while I'm pissed off about Ashley still being Kylie's background. Perfect…

"Oh, even better. A text from Ashley just popped up. Let's see what's in your inbox….oh look at that, texting Ashley all day I see." I can't take it anymore and run inside the closest store, Hot Topic. It would be the one store in the mall that I don't like. At least it provides me as an escape away from their flirting and the background and texting dilemma. I haven't received a text from Ashley at all which makes me think I definitely messed up my chances of anything.

Madison and Kylie finally found me in the store. I really don't want to talk to them, but I guess I have no choice.

"Why'd you run off, Spence?" Madison asks me.

"Just thought I would leave you two to have some alone time." Madison's eyes pierce through me, not wanting me to screw up her chances with Kylie.

"I have to get going. Talk to you later, Madi?" I can't stand Kylie right now; thank God she's leaving.

"Most definitely." The smile on Madison is so big I thought her face was going to break. Her face quickly changes once she turns to face me. "Why are you being like this? Is it Ashley? Stop being such a baby, Spence! If she likes any girl, it's Kylie. I'm sorry to break all of this to you, but someone has to."

"I know I should just let it go." I say letting my voice trail off.

"Alright, let's go. Carmen is waiting for me at home." With that said we head off to Madison's house.

We arrive what feels like hours later because this day is dragging on. As we pull up, I can see Carmen sitting in her bright yellow Mustang. Her face looks distorted with irritation as Madison knocks on her window. I watch a fight unfold, not wanting to leave the truck where I can sulk. Through the windows, I can hear parts of the conversation.

"What took you so long, Madison? I have been sitting in your driveway for a half hour. I told you to be here at five on the dot and its five thirty. Don't even try to play it off like you have a good excuse."

"Spencer and I were at the mall buying hats for our snapback collection and Kylie showed up there. We both talked with her for a while and looked at some stuff in Hot Topic." That was sort of a lie since I definitely had no part in talking to Kylie.

"Kylie!" Oh shit, here comes the famous freak out of Carmen. "That girl is bad all the way around. I knew she had something to do with you being late. I can sense these kinds of things, you know." Of course she can. "I don't want you talking to her, seeing her, or communicating with her anymore!"

"I'm sorry, but she is my friend and lately all you do is yell at me if I hang out with anyone, but Spencer. I don't get why you just can't let it go."

"Madison, I'm sorry. I love you, but I'm not in love with you. I think it's time we go our separate ways…" She gives Madison a quick kiss on the cheek and gets back into her car to leave. Madison is speechless, not expecting this to happen. After she leaves, Madison gets back into the truck beyond mad and takes off. I have no idea where we are going, but no conversation will start now that both of us are in bad moods.

Once we get to the gym, I finally realize that Madison had a basketball game which would explain why we are here. With everything that has happened today it definitely slipped my mind. I begin looking around the gym to decide who I want to sit next to so I don't look like a loner. I see two tall girls and a guy talking to someone sitting on the benches and next to them I see the one person I definitely don't want to associate with, Kylie. Seeing as the cheering section for Madison's team is near Kylie, I head that way and try not to be seen.

"Spencer?" I am hoping that when I turn around I won't be face to face with Kylie. To my surprise, it turns out much better than that. I look up into deep, brown eyes that seem to go on forever.

"Why are you here?"

"Kylie told me that Madison had a game today and I wanted to come support her. My friend from school and her girlfriend were already going to the game, so they picked me up on the way." I have mixed feelings seeing as Ashley is here, but Kylie is sitting right next to her. "Let me introduce you to my friends, Spence. This is Michelle; she plays basketball at my new high school." I shake hands with the girl who has at least a good six inches on me.

"Nice to meet you, Michelle. I'm Spencer." I say giving her a genuine smile.

"Oh, I know who you are. Ashley has mentioned you for sure." Ashley hits her.

"So not true. Anyway, this is Robin, Michelle's girlfriend." I shake hands with the next girl who is the slightest bit shorter than Michelle.

"And last, but not least, this is Kale. He has been living with Michelle lately and is pretty chill." I look at the guy who is beyond attractive. He is definitely a man dime.

"How's it going?" Kale says, winking at me. He is a big flirt right off the bat.

"Now that introductions are done, anyone want anything from the snack bar?" Ashley asks. Michelle and Robin chime in with their requests. I decide not to offer to come seeing as I don't want to seem desperate. After Ashley leaves, Michelle starts talking to me.

"So, I hear that you are gay, too." This definitely caught me off guard.

"Um, excuse me?" I come off rude, but I am just really shocked at how fast word travels.

"It just came up in conversation with Ashley. No big deal honestly." Well, at least Ashley mentions me.

Ashley returns with several sodas and we start some small talk. The game goes by pretty fast and I find myself wishing time would've slowed down so my time with Ashley didn't seem so short. As we wait for Madison to come out of the locker room, we all say our goodbyes. I give Ashley a hug and definitely don't want to let go. I make sure not to drag out my hug with her or my goodbye so I don't freak her out, though. Everyone leaves once Madison comes out and says goodbye.

"How was that with Ashley?" She gives me a questioning look accompanied with a smirk.

"It was just friendly talk and nice. Not a whole lot went on." I say giving her a content smile.

"That's new considering you were just completely fawning over her a few days back."

"I decided I don't want to freak her out, so I'm backing off."

"Good job, maybe she won't think you're completely crazy." She says nudging me playfully. I feel my pocket vibrate and pull out my phone.

I know I didn't say much about this, but you looked really beautiful tonight I start freaking out hoping that this is from Ashley, but then again who else would be texting me from a number that I don't already have in my phone.

"Oh my god! Kylie texted me! I win, Spencer! I knew she was into me." Madison is beyond happy that she won the bet, but I could care less getting a text from the most gorgeous girl in the world.


	6. Chapter 6

I have been staring at my phone for the past hour, not sure how to reply to the text I keep rereading. One word keeps jumping out at me, "beautiful." Madison has decided I need to stay the night with her and ride to school with her in the morning to have "friend time." Due to this, I am being hounded to reply to this text from Ashley.

"Would you just text this girl back and stop gawking at the message. God, you can be really blonde sometimes." Madison laughs and shakes her head.

"Yeah, I will. I just want to have the perfect reply." I keep thinking hard, not moving at all. Madison comes over and attempts to take my phone out of my hand.

"Look, if you don't reply, I will." I give her a piercing glare and she backs off, putting her hands up in surrender. "Okay, but when you lose your chance, don't blame me."

Hey! Thank you so much You are so cute You can tell me what you're thinking whenever you want. I press the send button while Madison is reading over my shoulder.

"'You can tell me what you're thinking whenever you want'? You need some help in the flirting department." I make sure to sock her in the stomach hard enough for it to hurt.

"You're an ass sometimes, Madi."

"Oh, I know, but this time I'm genuinely trying to help out my best friend. If Kylie hadn't already gone to bed, I wouldn't be hounding you and you would still be hovering above your phone." I see a whole minute has passed and I start freaking out.

"She hasn't written me back yet! What if I messed up my chances?" I start pacing, my normal nervous habit.

"Stop trippin'. It's been one whole minute, big deal." My phone begins to vibrate from a text message. "Oh my god! It's her!"

Okay, but I'm sorry I barely talked to you tonight. Just meeting you and all I didn't want you to think I'm just a player or something hitting on you right away. I am replying while reading the texts since I am so excited, but slightly confused at the same time. It doesn't sound like Ashley at all.

You definitely don't seem like a player Ash. You are fine I send this hoping that using her nickname will open her up a little more. The next text takes a couple minutes longer, making my heart beat faster.

Uh, I think you have me confused with someone else…. Oh God, should I not call her Ash?

This is Ashley, right? This could be awkward.

No, this is Kale. I got your number off of Ashley's phone because I thought you were cute.

"Madi! It's not Ashley! Wow, I feel stupid. I just automatically assumed it was her." My face quickly turns solemn, realizing that Ashley still hasn't taken the initiative to contact me.

I'm gay, bro I throw in, trying to get him off my back.

I know, Ashley told me, but I still thought it was worth a shot.

Sorry, Kale.

"Awe, Spence. I'm sorry. We both thought it was her, but she will come through eventually, even if it is just to be friends. Everyone says she is the hardest person to get to open up about anything. It will take time." She takes my hands in hers trying to sooth me while sitting next to me on the bed.

"I'll just hit her up on Facebook. I added her awhile back from a mutual friends list." I say, jumping off the bed.

"Don't sound desperate, Spence. If you want any kind of chance with her, no matter how unlikely it is, you shouldn't bombard her." Only half-listening to her, I begin to log in to my account. Scrolling through my friends list, I find her quickly and send her a message. I see she is online, so hopefully I get a reply quickly.

Hey fag lol Trying to busy myself while waiting for the reply, I change into some of Madison's pj's and begin brushing my teeth. Since Madison and I have been best friends for years, I always have a tooth brush with my name on it in her bathroom cabinet.

I walk out of the bathroom after completing most of my nightly routine before I get into bed and check my Facebook.

You don't say that! Well, on the plus side she has a sense of humor…hopefully.

Y not?

That's a mean word. Does she really mean that?

No, it's a descriptive term.

Oh jeeze.

You're a fag, just admit it already.

Wowwwww ha Uh, oh. Maybe I did push it too far. Dammit, Spencer, why can't you play it cool?

I'm just playin'. Whatcha doin'? Yeah, great way to patch it up.

Looking at a bunch of pictures Kyla took. She is making me look at EVERY SINGLE ONE.

Haha my turn? Jk I really can't come up with better responses? I suck at this whole flirting/liking Ashley deal.

Yeah, how about not? Lol well I have to head to bed. I have school in the morning. Night.

Goodnight Sleep well Hopefully that comes off friendly enough. It wasn't exactly the conversation I wanted, but I will sleep better knowing she is the last person I talked to.

After school the next day, I went home to find out the doctor decided to take my cast off a little bit early. To say I'm excited would be an understatement. Hopefully everyone will stop feeling bad for me now. I have noticed Ashley looking at my arm and I don't want to be known as the gimp. The cast makes me awkward, as well, which doesn't help me make good impressions.

The doctor begins cutting off my cast and I feel my phone vibrate in my other hand. I sneak a peek at my phone and realize Madison texted me.

Hey, girl, hey! That really isn't her kind of greeting. Maybe she is trying to be sarcastic.

What do you want, Madi? Haha I feel like this kind of text is going to be followed by a favor or an elaborate story.

Well, I have been invited by Kylie to Hawes' Farm! I am beyond excited to go anywhere with her. It was the second option.

Good for you, Madi On the inside though, I was upset that she is getting her dream girl while I wasn't getting mine. Not even a simple text from her.

I'll text you in a little while. Now I can go home and take a nap to escape listening to Madison gush about her and Kylie.

I am being woken up from my sleep by Madison's text.

What are you doing, fag? Great way to wake up.

I was sleeping until you woke me up. What do you want? I know that sounds rude, but I was having an amazing dream about Ashley.

Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Just wanted to tell you that I am going to get to work as a clown at the haunted house! Is that not cool, or what?

That's awesome, Madi. I start drifting back into sleep when I get a text a half hour later.

What are you doing tonight?

Probably homework and arm exercises to strengthen my arm now that the cast is off. Sounds like the life, right? I sound like such a nerd from that text. Good thing it's just my best friend I'm talking to. Maybe I'll try sleeping one more time before dinner. Fifteen minutes later, I'm rudely awoken again.

You definitely sound like a nerd. That confirms what I was just saying about myself. Who does arm exercises? Lol Two sentences? That's what I woke up for? Well, guess I'll just go downstairs and eat dinner with my family now.

Yeah, but that's to be expected. You know what my GPA is ;) This conversation isn't going anywhere in particular, but it gets my mind off of Ashley. I need to head down to dinner so my mom doesn't have a conniption fit.

"Hey there, sleepyhead." My dad is always the chill one in this house.

"Hi, dad. I just really needed my sleep, I guess. School drained me like crazy taking all these AP classes and college courses." And maybe thinking of Ashley, the girl I can't have, but I won't mention that to him.

"Well, your mom is working a late shift tonight and Glen and Clay are out with friends, so I thought I would make us dinner. Any requests?" I could ask him for my favorite, but that would take way too long considering my hunger level.

"How about your famous grilled cheese? I'm hungry and that is fast to make, right?" He smiles at me knowing that I love his grilled cheese.

"Sure, honey. I'll get that going." He loves cooking, so I don't feel bad for suggesting something.

Whoever is texting right now is taking a long time to write back. I'm assuming Madison is working right now and someone else has her phone. I hate slow texters and whoever has Madison's phone is making me mad.

I head out to the living room to watch TV until the food is ready. Right before I dig in, I get a text from Madison again.

Sorry, Spence. Ashley had my phone and it doesn't really look like she was too quick to reply back to you on some of these texts. Lol. But, she got hurt, though, some kid jumped on her in the haunted house after she scared him. That's when she finally gave my phone back. The paramedics are checking her out right now. Oh my god! Ashley was the one texting me all along! I wish I would've known that. I wonder if she's okay because I have no clue what the severity of her injury is. Is it okay to be worried about her this early on after meeting her? I mean I have fallen head over heels for her.

Is she okay?

Yeah, I think so. She just hurt her shoulder pretty bad and got choked. She will be alright, though. At least she doesn't have a life-threatening injury.

Is she going to the hospital? I ask being slightly concerned still.

Yeah, I'm just going to let her go by herself, seeing as Kyla will meet her once she gets there. At least her sister is there for her when she needs it. I guess I should probably head to bed now that Ashley is going to be okay. I need my sleep for tomorrow because school is really taxing on my body.

I'm going to head to bed. Night, Madison.

Night, Spence. I am already drifting off into dreams about that one brunette I can't take my mind off of.

**No One's Point of View**

Spencer's phone sits on her bedside table. The phone vibrates and the message flashes across the screen at two A.M.:

Hey, it's Ashley…


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, I'm sorry about the confusion with the last chapter. I looked at what I uploaded and noticed that when it uploaded, all of the punctuation I put around the text message conversations went away. I will have to change which punctuation I use on my future stories. Anyway, thank you for the heads up Here is the next chapter! Let me know what you think.**

Spencer's POV

I am so groggy right now. I scroll through my texts I received while I was asleep.

"Hey, Spencer. You want a ride to the movie?" Madison always offers, but she knows I am frequently late and I don't want to make her miss any of the flick.

"That's okay. I'll see you when I get there." Now, on to the next text…

"It's Kale. I know you aren't interested in guys, but we should still hang out sometime." This kid just doesn't stop!

"Yeah, sure. Hit me up sometime." Hopefully that comes off alright. I really just have more important things to worry about. Glancing at the next text, I completely freeze up.

"Hey, it's Ashley…" I slap myself to make sure I actually woke up. Now I'm jumping up and down in my room. Wait, Spencer, you need to calm yourself. Don't sound too excited by the text because she could be texting you for any reason.

"Hi, Ashley. How are you doing?" At least I'm not babbling or making a fool out of myself with this text. I hope I can play it cool texting her through the rest of our conversation. I get ready for my day while keeping my phone next to me at all times. A half hour later, my anxiousness subsides after receiving another text.

"I'm alright, just tore some crap in my shoulder."

"That's what Madison told me. I'm sorry about that. Anything I can do to help?" I feel bad for her and know how it is after I just was in a cast.

"Eh, shit happens I guess. I just wish I was allowed to fight back. Dumb rules." I guess the job entitled no actors touching customers and vice versa which is, like she said, dumb. She should at least be able to defend herself.

"I am sorry to hear that. I know how it feels to be hurt and it sucks."

"Yeah I'm pretty accident prone myself. Anyways, enough about injuries. How's your day so far?" I see this text and I am so excited that she actually wants to keep the conversation going.

"Not too bad, just heading out with some friends. I was hoping that you would text me. ;)" Definitely threw some flirting in there. I have to let her know I'm interested still without being too blunt.

"You did give me your number and I wanted to text you, just wasn't sure what to say." I'm not too sure how to interpret that, but it doesn't sound bad. I am happy with how the conversation is starting for the most part.

"Well, I am definitely glad you took the initiative to text me. I hate to do this, but I'm going into a movie so I'll text you later." I put my phone in my pocket and walk into the movie where Madison and a few of our mutual friends await.

After the movie, I see a somewhat flirty text from the one and only Ashley Davies.

"Don't take too long ;)" I can't figure out whether this was meant flirty or she just wanted someone to talk to. The winky face makes me think it is the first option.

"Was that too long, Ashley?"

"I was getting kind of lonely…" This still doesn't reassure my assumption, but at least she replied back immediately.

"I'm sorry. So, are you going to the game on Tuesday, cutie?" I want to try and see if she is flirting for sure.

"Well, then… Isn't Tuesday a given? I think we are slowly making that our group's new hang out day." I am pretty sure that is flirting. Maybe she has changed her mind and is interested in me now. That is wishful thinking, but the last few texts have secured that thought in my head.

The rest of the week we continue talking in the same manner until Tuesday comes up. Unable to sleep the night before, I reread all of our texts and realize we have definitely been flirting lately. After school, I head to Madison's house to ride with her.

"Hi, Spence. Ready for your 'big date'?" Madison jokes when she opens the door.

"It's not a date." I say giving her the stare down.

"Oh, it so is!" She squeals like a child trying to get her sarcastic point across.

"Can we just go already?" I plead with Madison, hoping she is just as excited to see Kylie so I won't have to deal with being teased by her all night.

We get to the park and the first thing I notice is Ashley sitting on Kylie's lap with her arm in a sling. This immediately ticks me off, but I try to play it cool, telling myself it's just a friendly thing. Madison and I both walk up to the two of them and neither of them moves off of the other. I sit next to the girls and Madison begins flirting with Kylie.

"Hey, guys, I'm going to get a drink." I tell them and don't get much of a response. I start up the steps to the snack bar and feel a hand on my shoulder when I'm in line. I turn around to see Ashley looking down at me, seeing as she is a few inches taller than me.

"What are you doing?" I ask her, confused as to how she even noticed I left because she was thoroughly engrossed in Madison's and Kylie's conversation.

"I knew you left, but Madison was talking and I didn't want to leave right in the middle of talking, so I waited. Sorry if it seemed like I was ignoring you." I look up and see that she is trying to hold her drawstring bag with her sling on and offer to take the bag.

"It's okay, honestly Spence." I still don't take that as a good enough reason to back off and continue to remove the bag.

"I was just in a cast, so I know how hard a simple task like having a bag on can be. Just let me carry it around for the night." She gives in and decides I can take the bag off of her back for the time being.

Later in the night, Ashley decides to sit on my lap which definitely makes me think she has opened up to me. We sit like this and talk for the rest of the night. Seeing her sitting on Kylie's lap doesn't seem so bad now that I have her on my lap and have her talking to me. The game is over now and we have to leave which makes me slightly sad, losing the physical closeness of Ashley.

I begin making my way towards the parking lot, and to my surprise Ashley grabs my hand. I definitely don't complain and squeeze her hand and smile up at her. She gives me a small smile back, but on the inside I was like a little kid jumping up and down. Madison decides to walk Kylie to her car, which gives us alone time.

"So, is holding my hand a onetime thing, or can I assume there will be more hand holding to come?" I say, hoping that there will be more opportunities to hold this gorgeous girl's hand or be close to her in any way.

"I think it's safe to say this won't be the only time we will hold hands." Her nose-crinkling smile makes my heart flutter. I guess her playing hard to get makes these little victories more significant.

"I'm glad you're not completely closed off to me now."

"Yeah…"Maybe I shouldn't take things too far. I'll just act casual and friendly towards her.

"Well, what are you up to on Friday? I think our friends wanted to go to a football game at my school." I hope that she will be open to this possibility, that way I only have to wait three more days to see her.

"Yeah, that would be cool. Madison mentioned it earlier and said she would come pick me up if I decided to go." Remind me to thank Madison later.

"Alright, sweet. Well there's Madi. I better get going, but I'll text you later, okay?" I will never get tired of looking at this girl's face.

"Yup, sounds good to me." She says while leaning in to give me a hug with her good arm. I wave to her as she walks away. Now, if my heart would just slow down a little bit, maybe I'll make it home without a heart attack.

"Looks like Spencer had a pretty good night." Madison says, smirking at me.

"I most definitely did. Now, I just can't wait until Friday night." I say looking in the distance, daydreaming about Ashley…

Friday comes as slow as possible, but texting Ashley makes it more bearable. When school is let out for the weekend, Madison meets me at my house to drop off my car and we take her truck to pick up Ashley. The drive to her house takes a little more than a half hour, but seems like a million miles away. When we get there, Ashley hugs us both and jumps in the back of the truck. Before Madison can slide into the driver's seat, Ashley whispers in my ear, "It's definitely good to see you." Her warm breath on my neck makes me get chills through my whole body.

"Okay, you two. Are you ready to go now?" Madison definitely caught on to our flirting.

"Yes, Madi. I was born ready." I can sense a smart-ass remark coming.

"Born ready for what? To come out of the closet? Looks like the one in the back still has one foot in the door." She laughs at her own joke, but neither of us find it comical. Noticing the quietness of the vehicle, she turns on "Perfect Two" by Auburn. I am sensing that Kylie will be at the game since Madi is playing sappy songs.

"Who is playing tonight besides your school, Spence?" I forgot that we didn't inform Ashley of much of anything besides that there was a game going on.

"Oh, it's Red Valley, a school to the south. They usually have a pretty decent football team." I have been way too engrossed in thinking about Ashley to think about the actual game.

We drive to my school and jump out of the truck. Madison and I flash our ID cards and wait for Ashley to pay to get in using the money I gave her. She refused all the way to the school, but I slipped the money in her wallet when she wasn't looking.

"Thanks for the money, you ass." She whispers to me once she gets through the gate. I wonder how she found out I put money in her wallet. Oh well, she's here now and that's all that matters. She slips her hand inside mine and intertwines our fingers. A smile instantly envelopes my face and I turn a light shade of red.

During the game, we sat cuddled together with a blanket that my friend brought for me. Her hand hasn't left mine the whole game and I'm still holding on tight making sure she doesn't drop it anytime soon.

"I'm glad you invited me to the game tonight." She turns her head after saying this to show me her beautiful smile.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure you were going to come, but I'm definitely happy you did." I hope I don't look like a retard smiling so big. Apparently she thinks it's cute considering her next comment.

"You look really adorable, smiling and looking at me so intently." Hearing this, I begin blushing uncontrollably. Shortly after, the game is over and my school won by a last minute touchdown. We slowly make our way through the celebrating crowd, holding hands through it all.

"These crowds are insane!" I say to no one in particular, but Ashley replies.

"I know, babe." My jaw drops and I stare at her like she is crazy for calling me that. Her calling me babe is a whole new category. At some point during the time my mind ponders this, we reach Madison's truck. She unlocks the truck and jumps in. Seeing as Kylie is with us this time, Ashley and I are forced into the backseat together. I am not opposed since this means we get to be closer.

Ashley definitely is tired because she lies across my lap and closes her eyes. I look down at her face and notice her soft, beautiful features. Her long, brown hair falls perfectly around her face and she looks so peaceful with her eyes closed. My gaze drifts down to her lips which look beyond inviting. I stare at them until I notice her eyes have opened again and a small smirk forms on her lips. I look up and notice she is staring at me as much as I am at her. It seems like a good time to take the big leap. I lean down looking between her eyes and her lips, taking my time on the way down. I want this kiss to be perfect…


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the confusion on my stories. I am going to try and make it even clearer in this chapter (text messages are in bold). Thanks for all the reviews and everything! It keeps me motivated. Also, I forgot to do a disclaimer in any chapter so here is mine. I do not own any part of South of Nowhere or the characters. The only thing I own is the made up characters in the story.**

I keep staring at her lips wanting to dive in and taste her luscious lips. I can feel her breath on my face and my breathing hitches. A rage of nervousness rushes through my body like a lightning bolt. Can I really do this? Spencer, just do it! I close the gap and go in for the kiss.

The kiss is soft and caring, not too much, but just enough to make it worth the wait. Her lips are so sweet and tender that I don't want to break the kiss, but know I'll have to eventually. I slightly begin to pull away to evaluate her expression. Shock? Happiness? Confused? I can't tell what she is thinking.

Did I do something wrong? I am freaking out hoping that I didn't mess up the kiss, or even better, my chances. My worries are washed away when she snuggles up into me. Looking up I realize we are at Carmen's, and I only know this because Kylie just dive-bombed into the backseat, hiding from Carmen.

Ashley is staying at Carmen's tonight because Carmen invited her a while ago. Along with that, Carmen's cousin is meeting up with them in the morning and they are having a girls' day. We start to maneuver out of the backseat across an incognito Kylie, hoping the darkness will cover her.

"I'm seeing red right now, Madison. Why would you bring that girl over here?" Carmen spits at Madison, showing that she is really mad. "Seeing red" is her term she uses when she's beyond mad. Even though the two of them are broken up, they still act like a couple.

"What girl are you talking about, it's just us three. That's it." Madison is lying through her teeth, hoping Carmen will buy it.

"Don't lie to me, I saw her jump across the seats and fall on her face like a dumbass. Why would you try to hide this from me." Ashley and I are tired of hearing them argue and head inside to set her stuff down that I'm carrying for her.

"Thanks for the help, Spencer. Not the easiest using the sling and carrying my stuff around." She says this while acting a little strange. I feel like this situation can get awkward if I don't think quickly. I look up at her and grab the back of her neck and bring her into a deep kiss. It was very hot and I definitely would have taken her right there on the bed in Carmen's room, but she pulled back and was looking at me with a very readable, confused look.

"Sorry, I just got carried away." Right about that time, Carmen walked through the door.

"Wow, definitely didn't see that one coming, but come on no making out in my room. Let's go, Spencer. Madi and her "friend" are waiting and I'd like "it" off of my property ASAP."Carmen can definitely be a bitch sometimes. I just look at Ashley and give her a half smile and walk out of the room. Madison waits in the truck while Kylie still hides in the back, regardless of the fact she's been caught.

"Damn, did you get in a quickie or something, Spence." Madison jokes bluntly. I will never understand where she comes up with her comical (or so she thinks) comments.

"For your information, no, we did not. Carmen knows that you are in here, Kylie. Come out, come out wherever you are. We know you don't want to go back into the closet."Madi and I are laughing hysterically. We pull out of the driveway and Kylie's head instantly pops up.

"Very funny, Spencer. I don't appreciate your jokes. Maybe you should go back in the closet**."** Now, Kylie is laughing, but we don't get why what she said is funny. We both just give each other a confused look and start laughing at each other. Kylie is now the confused one, and it's easy to notice Madi and I are best friends.

We make it to Madison's house and Kylie gets into her car to leave. Madison stays outside to tell her goodbye and I go inside to make myself comfortable. After a few minutes, I decide I will text Ashley.

"**Hey, it was good to see you tonight " **I can't wait to see this girl again. Kissing her was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.

"Well, looks like you had a good night."Madison says, coming into the room with a goofy grin on her face.

"I am definitely not the only one, Madi. Look at that stupid look you have on your face." She tries to hide her face, knowing that I've caught her.

"That's cool, bro. I see how it is. Then tell me your goofy smile doesn't resemble how you are feeling about Ashley."She looks at me hard before speaking again. "Spence, please be careful about her. She isn't gay, just having fun with you."

For some reason, I feel like that could be a good idea, but at the same time my heart won't let me get rid of her. I start looking on Facebook to pass the time while Madison jumps in the shower. One of my friends sent me a request for a dance party. I guess I'll check it out.

INSOMNIA DANCE PARTY

11/11/11

BE THERE! ALL YOUR FRIENDS WILL BE!

$10 PRE SALE

$15 AT THE DOOR

DANCE TILL YOU DROP!

8 PM- 3 AM

This seems like it could be fun. I'll have to mention it to Madison. I have heard about these dance parties before from my friends and the get pretty crazy, but are a lot of fun. Sneaking out could be an issue, but if I can get Ashley to go this could definitely help me get her to loosen up, seeing as she loves to dance.

"Insomnia, huh?" I jump not realizing anyone was behind me. It was Madison's dad and I definitely didn't know he was home.

"Yeah, my friend just sent me a request to go to the dance thing, but I definitely won't go. That stuff is just too dangerous for girls like Madi and me." I try to play it off, knowing that he probably wouldn't let us out.

"Oh, alright. Well, when Madi gets out of the shower, have her come and talk to me."

"Okay, I will."

A few minutes later, I hear the shower turn off and a presence behind me. Next, there is a whisper in my ear:

"We are going to that dance party…"


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own South of Nowhere or anything affiliated with it. I only own the made up aspects of this story. **

**Sorry it took so long to update guys. I started college and have been really busy so I'll try to get back into the swing of things. Let me know what you think! Your reviews help so much! Thanks!**

"Madison, you scared me!" I yell after realizing it was her.

"Do you know what this could mean?! We can invite Kylie to go and then I'll have the chance to get her up against me." Madison flops down on her bed after giving me a wink.

"And I'm sure Ashley wouldn't mind dancing either…"

"NO! You can't invite Ashley because then… then…" She starts struggling with her words while watching me send a text message.

"**So there's this dance party called Insomnia on the eleventh. You down?" ** Hopefully my text to Ashley isn't too forward. I'm always so worried about pushing too hard. Snap out of it, Spencer!

"Spence, you didn't just send that text, did you?" I still can't understand why Madi is so worried about inviting Ashley. This could be the most amazing night of my life. She stares at me and finally I smirk in response and head for the shower.

After the shower, I go to check my cell and become disappointed instantly when there is no text from Ashley. Guess I'll get ready for bed since I am going to have a long day tomorrow.

I go out into the bedroom and Madison is already passed out in her bed with all of the lights turned off. Glad she thinks about me before going to sleep... oh well, guess her dad will have to wait to talk. Time to pass out for the night…

"**Of course I'm down to go!" **This text from Ashley was the first thing I read this morning. The message was sent around 3 AM and I'm surprised that I didn't wake up from it considering my phone was on loud volume right next to my ear. It seems that I was dead to the world last night. I need to get ready for my soccer game today and it looks like Madi woke up before me because I can hear her talking to her dad, our soccer coach, in the kitchen.

I stumble into the kitchen half awake and Madison's dad looks at me with an amused look.

"You look like hell. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Madison and her father laugh together.

"Very funny, Greg. No, I'm just fine, but you on the other hand need to go shave. Is that 5 o'clock shadow at 8 AM?" I smirk at my lame comeback, but it's way too early to deal with their sarcastic remarks.

After grabbing cereal, I run back into the room to get dressed for our game. Once I emerge from the room, I see I'm the last one to get ready. Brittany is already here waiting with her dad who is the assistant coach. Good, the other smartasses are here too. Let's hit the road!

After warm-ups, we get our equipment checked by the refs. I look to my right waiting for my equipment to get checked and see a familiar face in the crowd. If Carmen is here, what happened to Ashley? I thought they were hanging out today? I keep looking through the crowd to see if Ashley is here until my teammate hits me on the shoulder.

"Pay attention! They just called your name!" Erika says a little bit too harshly.

I step forward and get my uniform, shin guards, and cleats checked by the ref. I step behind the ref once that is complete and keep looking around to no avail. I guess I have my hopes too high that Ashley would come to a game forty-five minutes away just to watch us play… well if she did I would hope it was for me, but anyway…

The game starts and I begin sprinting my way up and down the field. It feels good to play after not being able to with the cast on. For some reason they think I would use the cast as a weapon…weird. But then again, I probably would be that kind of person.

"Go Kayla! Get it!" That voice sounds familiar, but I can't place it. I can't really look while sprinting down the field with the ball. "You got it!"

I shoot and score after a crazy fight through the defenders. I high-five my teammates on the way back down the field, but look over my shoulder to see if I can spot the unfamiliar voice. I can't believe who I am seeing!

Shanice is sitting with Carmen in her lap. That would explain why Carmen is here since those two have an interesting history. I hope I can get out of here fast after the game because I definitely don't want to see them. Just focus on the game, Spencer. You got this!

The game ends 3-2 with my team coming out on top. It was quite a fight and I am definitely ready to leave this field. I tried to ignore the sidelines the rest of the game knowing who was over there and not wanting Madi to see what was going on, either. I grab all of my stuff after talking to the team and pull Madi towards her car hoping that we can leave right away.

"Hey, Madi, wait up!" Carmen is definitely trying to catch up with her and I'm definitely trying to go the opposite direction. I look at Madison's face and see the surprised expression she's wearing.

"I'll meet you at the car, Spence." This is typical seeing as Carmen has Madi wrapped around her finger. Guess I'll just go hide in the car while this lovely conversation carries on. I'm sure I'll hear about it later since Shanice is here, too.

"You're just going to run away from me now, Spencer?" I turn around to see a gorgeous Ashley standing in front of me. Wow, I definitely thought she was nowhere to be found.

"What're you doing here?" I ask. That was the only fathomable thing I can think to say.

"Well, this one girl named Madi told me this girl named Spencer played on her team and said that Spencer wasn't any good, but Madi said she would put on a show for me. " She says smirking at me. I'm still surprised she is even here, but I'm really glad she is.

I'm about to reply, but I'm being ripped away by a fuming Madison. "We are leaving…NOW!" She is beyond mad and I'm pretty sure you could categorize her as furious. I look back to see Ashley walking the other way towards Carmen and my heart drops. I wanted to see her during the whole game while not even knowing if she was there for sure, but now I don't even have the opportunity to say anything back to her. The only thing I managed to ask was why she was here and that definitely doesn't leave much conversation.

"What the hell, Madi! I was talking to Ashley!"

"Yeah, well you didn't see Shanice and Carmen. Eff that, bro. We need to get out of here." As she finishes her venting, I receive a text. I open it to read this message:

"**Date night tonight?" **


End file.
